Spark ignition systems, such as those used in igniting a pilot flame for gas fired water heaters, space heaters and furnaces are increasingly utilizing intermittent pilot or direct spark ignition systems, which do not use a standing pilot. These intermittent pilots most commonly use a flame sensing circuit to detect the presence of a flame before allowing the opening of the main gas valve that supplies the main burner to avoid unconsumed fuels from flowing freely.
The problem with the state of the art in intermittent pilot and direct spark ignition systems, i.e. systems that do not use a standing pilot flame, is that many of them use large or complex circuits to generate a high energy spark, which require higher voltage power supplies. The complexity of such power supply circuits increases dramatically for applications that need to operate on low voltage sources, such as battery power or self-powered implementations via a thermopile or hydro generator. Such circuitry often requires a substantial number of components which drive the cost of such circuitry unacceptably high.
In view of the highly competitive nature of the appliance industry, there is a need in the art for power supply circuitry that allows the use of low voltage sources, e.g. batteries, thermopile, hydro generator, etc., without increasing the cost and complexity of such circuitry to unacceptable levels. Embodiments of the present invention provides such a low voltage power supply for spark igniter and flame sense circuits for gas burners used in intermittent pilot and direct spark ignition systems. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.